Roof rack assembly for a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A roof rack assembly includes a side bar having an incised portion thereon, a pad interposed between a roof panel and the side bar, a side rail extending in a fore-and-aft direction of a vehicle, and a mounting plate having a rail structure on which the side rail is slidably attached. The mounting plate is positioned on the incised portion of the side bar. The pad, side bar, and mounting plate are superposed in order and fixed together to the roof panel by a fastening means.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on, and claims priority from, Korean PatentApplication No. 2004-0023315, filed on Apr. 6, 2004, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a roof rack assembly for avehicle. More particularly the roof rack assembly is capable ofpreventing dust from entering inside a side rail while enhancing theouter appearance of the vehicle by concealing fastening means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, to ensure a sufficiently strong passenger compartment andreduced impact to another vehicle in the event of a vehicle collision, apassenger vehicle adapts a monocoque body, which is formed byintegrating chassis frame members with a body of the vehicle. Such amonocoque body is often composed of front and rear body panels. Thefront body panels typically include a hood panel, a floor panel, a sidepanel, and a roof panel while the rear panels typically include a trunklid and a cowl panel. The monocoque body is provided with a frontpillar, a center pillar, and a rear pillar so as to reinforce the body.The panels are fixed to each other by welding or other fastening means.

A roof rack assembly is commonly mounted on the roof panel of certaintypes of vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, in order to carryluggage, bicycles, skies, and/or other large sporting equipment that istoo long or too big for stowage within the vehicle. For example, aconventional roof rack assembly comprising a side rail having a slidablyadjustable crossbar coupled thereto and a side bar covering anoverlapped portion of a roof panel and an outer side panel. The side baris interposed between the side rail and the roof panel while protectinga sitting part and both ends of the side rail. In such an arrangement,the side rail and the side bar fit into a ditch formed on the body paneland are securely fixed thereto by means of a nut and a mounting boltintegrally formed on a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is oftenwelded to the ditch.

However, the conventional roof rack assembly is disadvantageous in thatdust or other contaminants may enter through the opening and accumulatetherein resulting in disturbing the sliding of the crossbar. Moreover,the mounting blot and nut are exposed without coverings whichdeteriorates the aesthetic appearance of the roof rack assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a roof rack assemblycapable of preventing dust from being introduced into the inside of aside rail by configuring an opening of the side rail at the lateralsurface thereof. It is another object of the present invention toprovide a roof rack assembly that has an aesthetically pleasingappearance by concealing a fastening means of the roof rack assembly.

To achieve these objects of the present invention, one embodiment of aroof rack assembly includes a side bar having an incised portionthereon. A pad is interposed between a roof panel and the side bar. Aside rail extends in a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle and amounting plate has a rail structure on which the side rail is slidablyattached. The mounting plate is positioned on the incised portion of theside bar. The pad, side bar, and mounting plate are superposed in orderand fixed together to the roof panel by a fastening means.

Preferably, the side rail is provided with an opening adapted to receivea crossbar. The opening is located at a lateral surface facing thecenter of a vehicle. More preferably, the side bar is provided with aflange covering a ditch where an outer side panel and a roof panel arewelded to each other. Furthermore, the flange is configured toconstitute a substantially flat surface along the outer side panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned aspect and other features of the present inventionwill be explained in the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, cross-sectional view of a side rail and amounting plate of a roof rack assembly according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a roof rack assembly according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a roof rack assembly according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 3, the roof rack assembly is mounted on a roof panel100, adjacent to a ditch 300 where the roof panel 100 and an outer sidepanel 200 are coupled. In such an arrangement, a side bar 30 having aflange 31 is disposed along the ditch 300. In order to improve theappearance of a vehicle, the flange 31 covers the ditch 300 whileconstituting a substantially flat surface along the outer side panel200.

The roof panel 100 is provided with an aperture 110, through which abolt 50 is inserted so as to secure the roof rack assembly to the roofpanel 100. Disposed below the aperture 110 is a nut 10 adapted to couplewith the bolt 50. The nut 10 is integrally attached below the aperture110 of the roof panel 100 so as to prevent it from being escaped due toordinary impacts or vibration of a vehicle.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a pad 20 and the side bar 30 are mountedon the roof panel aligning with the aperture 110. Subsequently, amounting plate 40, receiving a side rail 60, is fit into an incisedportion 33 formed on the side bar 30. The shape of the incised portion33 of the side bar 30 may be modified in accordance with the bottomshape of the mounting plate 40. Further, the locations and the number ofincised portions 33 in the side bar 30 may be adjustable in conjunctionwith the thickness of the mounting plate 40 and the strength of thefastening means in order to determine the overall strength of the roofrack assembly. According to an embodiment, the fastening means forfixing the pad 20, the side bar 30, and the mounting plate 40 to theroof panel is bolt 50 with nut 10 coupled thereto. However, it will beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the fastening meansmay be substituted by other equivalents such as a screw, a rivet,welding, or the like.

The mounting plate 40 is provided with rail parts 41 that extendupwardly from both ends of the mounting plate 40. The side rail 60 isintegrally formed with grooves 61 configured for engaging with the railparts 41 of the mounting plate 40. According to an embodiment, the siderail 60 is provided with an opening 222 adapted to receive a crossbarwhich is slidably inserted therein. When the side rail 60 is installedto the roof panel 100, the opening is located at the lateral surfacefacing the center of a vehicle. Such arrangement of the lateral openingeffectively prevents invasion and accumulation of dust or othercontaminants into the inside of the side rail, whereby the crossbar cansmoothly move along the side rail.

Moreover, the fastening means, for example, the bolt 50 and nut 10, isconcealed by the side rail 60 when the side rail 60 is engaged with themounting plate 40 leading to enhancing the outer appearance of the roofrack assembly.

As described above, the roof rack assembly according to the presentinvention is advantageous in that the locations and numbers of themounting plate are readily adjustable in accordance with the applicationnecessity. The roof rack assembly has an aesthetically pleasingappearance encouraged by concealing the fastening means. A strength ofthe roof rack assembly can be easily adjusted by changing a thickness ofthe mounting plate and a strength of the fastening means. The openingformed at the lateral surface of the side rail effectively preventsinvasion and accumulation of dust or other contaminants into the insideof the side rail, whereby the crossbar can smoothly move along the siderail. And the outer appearance of a vehicle can be improved by employingthe side bar having the flange that covers a ditch while constituting asubstantially flat surface along the outer side panel.

Even though the present invention is described in detail with referenceto the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope ofthe present invention thereto. It is evident from the foregoing thatmany variations and modifications may be made by a person having anordinary skill in the present field without departing from the essentialconcept of the present invention.

1. A roof rack assembly, comprising: a side bar having an incisedportion; a pad interposed between a roof panel and the side bar; a siderail extending in a fore-and-aft direction of a vehicle; and a mountingplate having a rail structure on which the side rail is slidablyattached, the mounting plate being sat on the incised portion of theside bar, wherein the pad, the side bar, and the mounting plate aresuperposed in order and are fixed together to a roof panel by afastening means.
 2. The roof rack assembly according to claim 1, whereinthe side rail is provided with an opening adapted to receive a crossbar,the opening located at the lateral surface facing the center of avehicle.
 3. The roof rack assembly according to claim 1, wherein theside bar is provided with a flange covering a ditch where an outer sidepanel and a roof panel are welded to each other, wherein the flange isconfigured to constitute substantially flat surface along the outer sidepanel.
 4. The roof rack assembly according to claim 2, wherein the sidebar is provided with a flange covering a ditch where an outer side paneland a roof panel are welded to each other, wherein the flange isconfigured to constitute substantially flat surface along the outer sidepanel.
 5. A roof rack assembly, comprising: a side bar having an incisedportion; a pad configured to be interposed between a roof panel and theside bar; a side rail; and a mounting plate having a rail structure onwhich the side rail slidably couples, wherein the mounting plate coupleswith the incised portion of the side bar, and wherein the pad, the sidebar, and the mounting plate are coupled together.
 6. The roof rackassembly according to claim 5, wherein the side rail defines an openingadapted to receive a crossbar, wherein the opening is positioned at alateral surface facing a center of the vehicle.
 7. The roof rackassembly according to claim 5, wherein the side bar further includes aflange configured for covering a ditch where an outer side panel and aroof panel are coupled together.
 8. The roof rack assembly according toclaim 7, wherein the flange is configured to constitute a substantiallyflat surface.